Skeleton Grammar

HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR

Rupert Snell

HINDI URDU FLAGSHIP, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN [email protected]

The essential grammatical ‘rule’ and/or paradigm from each main section of Teach Yourself Hindi (units 1–14) is set out in very briefly here in note form.

1.1 PERSONAL PRONOUNS & THE VERB ‘TO BE’ [hona] mE# hUÅ ma∞ h I am hm hE# ham ha∞ we are tU hE tË hai you are tum ho tum ho you are yh hE yah hai he/she/it/this is åap hE# åp ha∞ you are vh hE yah hai he/she/it/that is ye hE# ye ha∞ he/she/these/they are ve hE# ve ha∞ he/she/those/they are

1.2 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Questions that expect a ‘yes/no’ answer are formed by prefixing ˚ya kyå to a statement:

vh ram hE ≥ vah Råm hai. He is Råm. ˚ya vh ram hE ? kyå vah Råm hai? Is he Råm?

1.3 NOUNS Masculine nouns ending in -å change to -e in the plural: kamrå > kamre. Other masculine nouns, and råjå, pitå, cåcå, netå, do not change in the plural. Feminine nouns ending in -i or -¥ change to -iy∆ in the plural: be†¥ > be†iy∆. Other feminine nouns add -¢ in the plural: mez > mez¢.

1.4 ADJECTIVES Adjectives ending in -å change to -e in the masculine plural: ba®å > ba®e; and to -¥ in the feminine (singular and plural): ba®¥. Adjectives not ending in -å (e.g. såf, kh ål¥ ) do not change with number or gender. 1 HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR

1.5 THE SIMPLE SENTENCE Standard word-order follows the patterns shown: yh mkan Coqa (nhI#) hE ≥ yah makån cho†å (nahÇ) hai. This house is (not) small. yh Coqa mkan (nhI#) hE ≥ yah cho†å makån (nahÇ) hai. This is (not) a small house.

2.1 INTERROGATIVE WORDS ˚ya kyå what? kOn kaun who? kEsa/kEse/kEsI kaiså/kaise/kais¥ what kind of? what like? iktna/iktne/iktnI kitnå/kitne/kitn¥ how much, how many? The function of kyå here is different from that shown in 1.2 above.

2.2 AGREEMENT OF ADJECTIVES WITH MIXED GENDERS When referring to a mixed group of males and females, adjectives show masculine gender:

ye lÂ\kw åOr lÂ\ikyaÅ lµbe hE# ≥ ye la®ke aur la®kiy∆ lambe ha∞. These boys and girls are tall.

When referring to mixed inanimate objects, adjectives take the gender of the nearest noun:

ye jUte åOr cπple# sßtI hE# ≥ ye jËte aur cappal¢ sast¥ ha∞. These shoes and sandals are cheap.

2.3 SOME CONVERSATIONAL FEATURES The Hindi politeness code uses the åp/tum/tË system to express degrees of familiarity (see 2.4). The honorific j¥ can be added to titles and names: paˆ∂it j¥, Íarmå j¥, Kamlå j¥. The word namaste is an all-purpose greeting and leave-taking; namaskår is a synonym. The word bh¥ ‘also’ comes immediately after the word it emphasises.

2.4 MORE ON ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS The ‘honorific’ system of Hindi shows a progression of formality or politeness in the pronoun sequence tË (intimate) tum (familiar) åp (formal). Both tum and åp are grammatically plural. The use of an honorific plural is maintained in the third person also: thus tum, åp, ve and ye can all refer either to an individual or to a group. Adjectives, verbs and masculine nouns agree accordingly; but feminine nouns do not show an honorific plural.

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ve ih~dußtanI hE# ≥ ve hindustån¥ ha∞. He/she is Indian / They are Indian. åap kEse hE# ? åp kaise ha∞? How are you? tum åçCe beqe ho ≥ tum acche be†e ho. You are a good son / good sons. ve lMbI mihla kOn hE# ? ve lamb¥ mahilå kaun ha∞? Who is that tall lady?

3.1 SIMPLE POSTPOSITIONS Postpositions are equivalent to English prepositions: m¢ ‘in’, par ‘on’, tak ‘up to’, se ‘by/with/from’, ko ‘to/at’. But being postpositions, they follow the words they govern.

3.2 NOUNS WITH POSTPOSITIONS A noun changes from direct to oblique case when governed by a postposition. Masculine nouns ending in -å change to -e in the oblique singular, and to -õ in the oblique plural: kamrå > kamre m¢, kamrõ m¢. Other masculine nouns, and all feminine nouns, are unchanged in the oblique singular, but have -õ in the oblique plural: makån > makån m¢, makånõ m¢. Nouns ending Ë shorten this to u in the oblique plural: hindË > hinduõ. Nouns ending ¥ change this to iy in the oblique plural: ådm¥ > ådmiyõ.

3.3 ADJECTIVES IN THE OBLIQUE CASE The grammatical case (i.e. direct or oblique) of an adjective agrees with the noun it qualifies. But the only adjectives to show this change are masculine adjectives in -å; these change to -e in the oblique, whether singular or plural: ba®å > ba®e.

3.4 PRONOUNS IN THE OBLIQUE CASE Pronouns also have oblique forms: yah > is; vah > us; ye > in; ve > un. yh bÂ\a mkan yah ba®å makån this big house > ^s bÂ\e mkan me# is ba®e makån m¢ in this big house ve bUÂ|e log ve bË®he log those old people > ¨n bUÂ|e logo# ko un bË®he logõ ko to those old people

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4.1 ‘WAS’ & ‘WERE’ The past tense of the verb hona honå ‘to be’: masculine singular Ta thå masculine plural Te the feminine singular TI th¥ feminine plural TI# thÇ

4.2 to to; ‘SO’, ‘AS FOR’

Firstly, to is a conjunction meaning ‘so’: to åap åÅÄe¿j hE# ? to åp ãgrez ha∞? ‘So you’re English?’ In a second meaning, to highlights one thing as contrasted with an implied alternative: kmra to QIk hE ≥ kamrå to †h¥k hai. The room’s OK [but the food’s terrible]. kmra QIk to hE ≥ kamrå †h¥k to hai. The room’s OK [but it’s not that great].

4.3 COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES Comparisons are made by using ordinary adjectives (there are no ‘-er, -est’ forms), together with the postposition se se ‘than’. The object of comparison takes se se :

ram sIta se lMba hE ≥ Råm S¥tå se lambå hai. Råm is taller than Sitå. sIta ram se CoqI hE ≥ S¥tå Råm se cho†¥ hai. Sita is smaller (shorter) than Råm. Superlatives are expressed with sabse:

ram sbse lMba hE ≥ Råm sabse lambå hai. Råm is (the) tallest. Other expressions: aur (or zyådå) ‘more’, kam ‘less’:

yh iktab åOr/¿∆yada mhÅgI hE ≥ Yah kitåb aur/zyådå mahãg¥ hai. This book is more expensive.

yh iktab km mhÅgI hE ≥ Yah kitåb kam mahãg¥ hai. This book is less expensive.

4.4 SOME CONSTRUCTIONS WITH ko ko Whereas English has the ‘self’ as subject in sentences such as ‘I like Hindi’, ‘I have a cold’, in Hindi the ‘thing possessed or experienced’ often becomes the grammatical subject, and the ‘experiencer’ takes ko ko:

¨sko ¿jukam hE ≥ usko zukåm hai ‘To him/her a cold is’ = He/she has a cold. hmko malUm hE ≥ hamko målËm hai ‘To us it is known’ = We know. muJko ih~dI psMd hE ≥ mujhko hind¥ pasand hai ‘To me Hindi is pleasing’ = I like Hindi.

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4.5 THE VOCATIVE CASE The vocative (the case for addressing someone) is the same as the oblique, except that the plural ending is not nasalised (-o not -õ ): be†e ‘son!’; dosto ‘friends!’.

5.1 THE INFINITIVE VERB The infinitive verb (e.g. ‘to speak’ in English) consists of stem + infinitive ending -na : bolna ‘to speak’ has stem bol + ending -na.

5.2 COMMANDS AND REQUESTS Infinitive tU tum åap bEQna bEQ bEQo bEiQ´ jana ja jaåo ja^´ krna kr kro kIij´ dena de do dIij´ Important irregular verbs include krna, dena, lena, pIna — see p. 64. Negative commands (i.e. ‘do not…’) use n or mt — vhaÅ n bEiQ´, å˜Äe¿jI mt bolo. An infinitive used as an imperative often relates to a future occasion — ram se nmßte khna.

5.3 POSSESSION WITH ka The postposition ka/kI/kw acts like the English “apostophe s”, standing between the possessor and the possessed: ram ka nam ‘Ram’s name’, or ‘the name of Ram’. ka is a postposition, so requires preceding oblique case (l¿\kw); it also agrees as an adjective with the thing possessed: l¿\kw kI bihn the boy’s sister mere BaÈ kI cabI my brother’s key merI bihn ka nam my sister’s name étap kw doßt Pratap’s friends

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5.4 ko WITH THE INDIRECT AND DIRECT OBJECT a) with indirect objects: ram ko pEsa dIij´ (‘ram’ indirect object; ‘pEsa’ direct object). b) with direct objects perceived as ‘specific’, especially a person: ram ko bulaåo ‘call Ram’; ^s cabI ko riK´ ‘keep this key’. In many contexts, ko is optional: yh p§ p¿|o, or ^s p§ ko p¿|o.

5.5 ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF THE OBLIQUE PRONOUNS + ko. These are straightforward alternatives with no further grammatical implications: muJe = muJko etc. Learn the list, p. 68.

6.1 THE IMPERFECTIVE PRESENT TENSE The tense for habitual or regular action, ‘I speak’ (as opposed to continuous ‘I am speaking’, which comes in Unit 8.) It consists of imperfective participle (stem + ta, e.g. bol + ta = bolta) plus auxiliary (hUÅ, hE etc.). mE# ih~dI bolta hUÅ I speak Hindi. lÂ\ikyaÅ ßk&l jatI hE# The girls go to school. hm Bart me# rhte Te We lived (used to live) in India. Masculine gender prevails in a mixed group of people — ram åOr sIta BI vhaÅ rhte Te. The auxiliary can be dropped in the negative: mE# ih~dI nhI# bolta I don’t speak Hindi. If hE# is dropped from a feminine verb such as ve boltI hE# when making it negative, the nasal from the dropped hE# jumps onto the participle: ve nhI# boltI#. ram ko ih~dI åatI hE means ‘Ram knows Hindi’ (lit. ‘Hindi comes to Ram’); this usage applies with knowledge of languages only. But a similar usage works with an infinitive verb: ram ko gaÂ\I clana åata hE ‘Ram knows how to drive a car’ – ‘Ram can drive’.

6.2 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS These behave as adjectives, agreeing with nouns in number and gender — mera Gr, merI bihn, mere haTo# me#. Learn the list on p. 77.

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6.3 åpna ‘ONE’S OWN’ åpna replaces possessive pronouns (¨ska etc.) in a clause like ‘he reads his (own) book’, in which ‘he’ and ‘his’ refer to one and the same person — vh åpnI iktab pÂ|ta hE. General rule: if the English ‘his’ (etc.) has the implicit sense ‘his own’, use åpna.

6.4 COMPOUND POSTPOSITIONS These are simply postpositions consisting of two words — a noun or adverb preceded either by kw / kI or by a possessive pronoun: ram kI tr¿P towards Ram ¨nkw saT with them åapkw il´ for you ^skw bad after this When referring to mE#, tU, hm, tum and åpna, no ka appears with a compound postposition: mere / tere / hmare / tuµhare / åpne saT, il´, bad etc.

6.5 PRONOUNS REVISITED A summary of the pronouns encountered so far, e.g. mE# ‘I’, muJ ‘me’, mera ‘my, mine’, åpna ‘one’s own’, kOn ‘who?’, iks ‘whom?’, ikska ‘whose?’, ˚ya ‘what?’.

7.1 THE PAST IMPERFECTIVE The tense for habitual or regular action in the past: ‘I lived’ or ‘I used to live’. (This tense is not used for completed, one-off actions such as ‘I went, I ate’; these come in Unit 11.) It’s the same as the present imperfective (6.1) but substitutes the past auxiliary (Ta etc.) for the present auxiliary (hÅU, hE etc.). mE# ih~dI bolta Ta ≥ I used to speak Hindi. vh id¬lI me# rhtI TI ≥ She lived, used to live, in Delhi. hm åßptal me# kam krte Te ≥ We used to work in a hospital.

7.2 koÈ and k&C

(a) koÈ — ‘anyone, someone’ koÈ hE ? anyone there? koÈ nhI# nobody

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koÈ — ‘some, a certain’ (usually singular) koÈ åadmI some fellow koÈ kar some car koÈ — ‘about, approximately’ (with a number) koÈ ds log some ten people koÈ pMªh kare# some fifteen cars koÈ changes to iksI in the OBLIQUE: iksI Gr me# in some house (b) k&C — ‘something, some’ k&C dUD some milk (‘uncountable’ noun, singular) k&C kmre some rooms (‘countable’ noun, plural) k&C bolo ≥ Say something! k&C nhI# nothing k&C doesn’t change in the OBLIQUE: k&C Gro# me# in some houses

7.3 caih´ ‘IS WANTED / NEEDED’ The person who ‘wants’ takes ko, and the ‘thing wanted’ is the subject of the verb. ¨nko pEsa caih´ They want/need money [no auxiliary in present tense] ram ko pEsa caih´ Ta Ram wanted/needed money [Ta agrees with pEsa m ] ram ko cay caih´ TI Ram wanted/needed tea [TI agrees with cay f ]

7.4 ORDINAL NUMBERS Ordinal numbers (‘first, second’ etc.) are formed from cardinal numbers (‘one, two...’) + -vaÅ, e.g. paÅc ‘five’ > paÅcvaÅ ‘fifth’, ds ‘ten’ > dsvaÅ ‘tenth’. Exceptions: phla ‘first’; dUsra ‘second’; tIsra ‘third’; cOTa ‘fourth’; CQa ‘sixth’. They agree as adjectives: phlI s¿\k, tIsra åadmI, dsve# Gr me#.

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7.5 AGGREGATIVES These are expressions indicating ‘groups of’ a number. They are made up of the cardinal number + -åo# (except do > dono# ). tIno# l¿\kw all three boys h¿jaro# log thousands of people sato# idn all seven days dono# åadmI both men, the two men

7.6 CONJUNCT VERBS These are verbs made up of two words: an adjective/noun + krna (transitive) or hona (intrans.). sa¿P ‘clean’ sa¿P krna ‘to clean’. vh kmra sa¿P krta hE ≥ He cleans the room. xu> ‘beginning’ xu> krna ‘to begin’. mE# kam xu> krta hUÅ ≥ I begin work. bMd ‘closed’ bMd hona ‘to be closed’ dukan xam ko bMd hotI hE ≥ The shop closes in the evening.

8.1 CONTINUOUS TENSES These tenses give the sense of an ongoing action — English ‘…ing’ verbs. Formed from stem + rha/rhI/rhe + auxiliary: mE# bol rha hUÅ ‘I am speaking’. vh so rhI hE ≥ She is sleeping. mE# Kana nhI# bna rha (hUÅ) ≥ I am not preparing food. hm rei\yo sun rhe Te ≥ We were listening to the radio. ve kl åa rhe hE# ≥ They are coming tomorrow. [Future time, as in English.]

8.2 EXPRESSIONS FOR ‘TO HAVE’ In the absence of a verb ‘to have’, Hindi has 3 main ways of showing ‘ownership’: Afflictions, feelings: ko muJko ¿jukam hE I have a cold. hm ko åaxa hE ik ... We hope that... Possessions: kw pas ram kw pas kÈ tßvIre# hE# ≥ Ram has many pictures. mere pas pEsa nhI# hE ≥ I don’t have any money. Houses, relatives: ka ¨skw do mkan hE# ≥ He has two houses. mere do bçce hE# ≥ I have two children.

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8.3 SOME ADVERBIAL PHRASES Adverbs are often made up of oblique noun without postposition (or if you like to think of it this way, with an invisible ‘ghostposition’): ¨s idn that day ^n idno# these days ipCle sal last year

Some adverbs consist of noun+ se : mui≈kl se with difficulty åasanI se with ease, easily Îyan se attentively

Some adverbs are like postpositions with the kw removed: bahr outside Ëpr up nIce down

8.4 WHAT’S TODAY’S DATE? åaj kI tarI¿K ˚ya hE ? Dates use cardinal numbers: ds jUn ‘tenth of June’; pMªh jnvrI ‘fifteenth of January’. But ‘first’ and ‘second’ of the month use ordinal numbers: phlI ågßt, dUsrI nvµbr. Feminine agreement of phlI, dUsrI is with tarI¿K ‘date’ (understood, not stated). Here are the months (not listed in the book): jnvrI ¿PrvrI macR åèEl mÈ jUn julaÈ ågßt istMbr åktUbr nvMbr idsMbr

8.5 WORD ORDER Here is an example of a sentence with a ‘standard’ word order: mE# hr h¿∏te bçco# ko k&C pEsa deta hUÅ ≥ subject adverb indirect object direct object verb I every week to the children some money give.

Changing this order will emphasize the element brought closer to the end of the sentence: mE# bçco# ko k&C pEsa hr h¿∏te deta hUÅ ≥ I give the children some money every week. mE# hr h¿∏te k&C pEsa bçco# ko deta hUÅ ≥ I give the children some money every week.

Question words normally come just before the verb: tum log khaÅ rhte ho ? Where do you live? åap bçco# ko pEsa ˚yo# dete hE# ? Why do you give the children money?

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9.1 THE FUTURE TENSE The future is made up of stem + the following endings (-å changing to-¥ and -e as usual) mE# mE# bolUÅga tU, yh, vh -egå tU, yh, vh bolega åap, ye ve -¢ge åap, ye, ve bole#ge tum -oge tum bologe

9.2 FUTURE TENSE IN THE AUXILIARY VERB The auxiliary verb hona is often used in the future: ve kl åa rhe ho#ge ≥ They will be coming tomorrow. ve gujratI bol rhe ho#ge ≥ They will be speaking Gujarati.

9.3 ‘PRESUMPTIVE’ USES OF THE FUTURE As in English, a future tense can indicate an assumption or presumption about the present. ve bhut nara¿j ho#ge ≥ They will be (= are sure to be) very angry. vh pMjabI hoga ≥ He’ll be (= is bound to be) a Punjabi. This is also used with imperfective and continuous tenses: åap muJko ¿j>r jante ho#ge ≥ You must surely know me. vh åBI åa rha hoga ≥ He’s sure to be coming in a moment.

9.4 THE EMPHATIC hI hI gives a ‘restrictive’ emphasis (meaning ‘only’), or stresses a particular word or phrase. It comes directly after the word it emphasises: ram ih~dI hI bolta hE ≥ Ram speaks Hindi only. ram hI ih~dI bolta hE ≥ Only Ram speaks Hindi. Some pronouns and adverbs combine with hI to give special forms: see p. 116.

9.5 SOME EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY bhut-sa — bhut-se log many people bhut-sI lÂ\ikyaÅ many girls

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Compare: bhut åmIr log very rich people (rather than ‘many rich people’) The words bhut, ∆¿ yada, åiDk etc., meaning ‘much, many’ etc., may give the sense of ‘too much’, especially when used together, or with hI; yh bhut ∆¿ yada hE ‘This is too much’.

9.6 THE INFINITIVE AS VERBAL NOUN: jana ‘TO GO , GOING’ An infinitive verb (e.g. bolna ‘to speak) can function like a noun: ih~dI bolna åasan hE ‘To speak Hindi is easy’, or ‘Speaking Hindi is easy’, in which bolna is the subject of the verb hE. When followed by a postposition, an infinitive ending (bolna) changes to oblique -e (bolne me# ) — just as kmra changes to kmre me#. muJe ihMdI bolna psMd hE ≥ I like speaking Hindi. (bolna is the subject of hE ) ihMdI bolne me# ˚ya ¿Payda hE ? What is the point in speaking Hindi? Expressions of ‘purpose’ are formed with an oblique infinitive with or without postposition (kw il´, sometimes ko): mE# åÅÄe¿jI sIKne (kw il´) lMdn ja rha hUÅ ‘I am going to London (in order) to learn English’.

10.1 THE SUBJUNCTIVE Formed as the future tense minus -ga ending, the subjunctive expresses possibility, requests etc.; it uses n (rather than nhI# ) in the negative. mE# BI bEQUÅ ? May I sit too? åap vhaÅ n bEQe#, yhaÅ bEQe# ≥ Would you please sit here, not there.

10.2 THE SUBJUNCTIVE IN T HE AUXILIARY VERB The subjunctive of hona is often used as an auxiliary, again to give a ‘maybe’ sense: ve mere BaÈ ko jante ho# ≥ They may know my brother. vh sun rhI ho ≥ She may be listening.

10.3 THE VERB cahna The verb cahna means ‘to want to’ and is used with a direct-case infinitive, like jana — mE# Gr jana cahta hUÅ ≥ I want to go home. sunIta BI åana cahtI hE ≥ Sunita wants to come too.

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When a person wants another to do something, the construction is cahna ik + subjunctive: mE# cahta hUÅ ik ram yhI# rhe ≥ I want Ram to stay right here. ve cahte hE# ik hm BI bole# ≥ They want us to speak too.

10.4 CONDITIONAL SENTENCES (1) Conditional sentences have two clauses: an ågr (‘if’) clause and a to (‘then’) clause. ågr ¨skw pas pEsa hE to QIk hE ≥ If he has money then it’s OK. ågr tum caho to yhaÅ rho ≥ If you wish, stay here. [English omits ‘then’.] Choice of verb types (including subjunctive, future etc.) depends on context.

10.5 THE SUFFIX -vala. The suffix -vala (-valI, -vale, -valo# ) is used in the following ways: noun + -vala = noun: dUD milk > dUDvala milkman adverb + -vala = adjective: pas nearby > pasvala (Gr) nearby (house) With an oblique infinitive, -vala has the following uses: ih~dI bolnevale Hindi speakers ih~dI bolnevale log Hindi-speaking people mE# åBI janevala Ta ≥ I was just going (I was on the point of going).

11.1 TRANSITIVITY Because transitive and intransitive verbs behave differently in the past tense, it’s important to understand the difference between them. Transitive verbs are those which can take a direct object: ‘I saw the dog’, ‘I saw’. Intransitive verbs are those which can’t take a direct object: ‘I walked home’, ‘I walked’. As a rough-and-ready test, try turning the sentence round as a passive (which will only work with transitive verbs): we can say ‘the dog was seen’, but we can’t say ‘home was walked’. Because this test doesn’t always work, it’s best to check verbs in the glossary: transitive verbs are marked with a little N, like this: khna N . Please correct the first paragraph of section 11.1: it should end ‘...because these verbs are intransitive’ !

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11.2 PERFECTIVE TENSES — INTRANSITIVE VERBS The perfective tense describes one-off actions in the past: ‘I got up, I ran, I arrived’. The participle is made up of stem + -å, -e, - ¥, Ç (¨Qa, ¨Qe, ¨QI, ¨QI#). Verbs whose stems end in - å, like åana ‘to come’, add a y before the masculine singular -å ending: åaya ‘came’.

mE# åaya (masc.), åaÈ (fem.) I came vh åaya he came hm/tum/åap/ve åa´ (masc), åaÈM (fem.) we/you/you/they came

‘came’ is changed to ‘has come’ by using the auxiliary hE —

mE# åaya hUÅ I have come vh åaÈ hE She has come hm åa´ hE# We have come

‘came’ is changed to ‘had come’ by using the auxiliary Ta —

mE# åaya Ta I had come vh åaÈ TI She had come hm åa´ Te We had come

The verb jana has the irregular participle gya, gÈ, g´, gÈM

11.3 PERFECTIVE TENSES — TRANSITIVE VERBS Remember that the perfective tense describes one-off actions in the past: ‘I saw, I ate’. The participle here is the same as for intransitive verbs (11.1): deKa, Kaya. Transitive verbs such as Kana take the ne construction (¨sne cInI KaÈ ‘he ate sugar’, in which the verb is feminine to agree with cInI). Verbs which take the ne construction take it even when an object is not expressed: ¨sne Kaya ‘he/she ate’. If the object is followed by ko, the verb shows no agreement at all but is in the masculine singular: ¨sne cInI ko Kaya ‘he ate the sugar’. The word ne is a postposition and therefore takes the oblique case; some pronouns have special oblique forms for use with ne — mE#ne (not muJ), ^~ho#ne (not ^n), ¨~ho#ne (not ¨n). The verb krna has the irregular participle ikya, kI, ik´, kI#; dena and lena are also irregular.

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12.1 jakr ‘HAVING GONE, AFTER GOING’

The ‘absolutive’ is formed from the verb stem + -kr: jakr, deKkr, phuÅckr. It means ‘having done’, and its main use is for the first of two verbs in sequence:

drva¿ja Kolkr vh kmre me# åaya ≥ He opened the door and came into the room. (‘having opened...’) Kana Kakr ja^´ ≥ Eat before you go. (‘having eaten...’) In speech, less commonly in writing, -kr becomes -kw (jakw, deKkw, phuÅckw); krna has krkw only.

12.2 WHAT’S THE TIME? “bjkr” for minutes past the hour; “bjne me#” for minutes to the hour. “pOnee” for quarter-to the hour; “sva” for quarter-past; “saÂ|e” for half-past. ds bjkr paÅc imnq hE# ≥ It’s five minutes past ten. ds bjne me# paÅc imnq hE# ≥ It’s five minutes to ten. pOne ds bje a quarter to ten sva ds bje a quarter past ten sa¿|e ds bje half past ten iktne bje? at what time? iktne bje hE#? ˚ya bja hE? What is the time?

12.3 skna, pana, cukna These three verbs are used with the stem of a preceding verb to mean ‘can’, ‘manage to’ and ‘have already done’ respectively:

Verb stem + skna : ‘to be able to do’. mE# ¿Kt ilK skta hUÅ ≥ I can write a letter. Verb stem + pana : ‘to manage to do’. mE# ¿Kt nhI# ilK paya ≥ I didn’t manage to write the letter. Verb stem + cukna : ‘to have finished doing’. mE# ¿Kt ilK cuka hUÅ ≥ I’ve already written the letter. The ne construction is never used with these verbs.

12.4 COMPOUND VERBS (1) Compound verbs are Hindi’s spin-doctors: the meaning of a verb is given a particular slant by having a second verb attached to it. The main meaning is given by the first verb in stem form: the second verb loses its literal meaning but supplies a particular emphasis. This section introduces 3 ‘spin’ verbs:

15 HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR jana giving a sense of finality or completeness lenagiving a sense of benefit coming towards the doer dena giving a sense of benefit going away from the doer

Ka jana ‘to eat up’ — vh tIno# smose Ka gya ≥ sun lena ‘to have a listen’ — yh gana sun lo ≥ de dena ‘to pass, give, hand’ — muJe vh botl de do ≥ The ne construction is used only when both compounded verbs require it.

12.5 VERBS IN COMBINATION These are like compound verbs (12.4), except that both of the verbs involved retain their literal meaning.

lOq jana ‘to go back’ — vh Gr lOq ja´ga ≥ He’ll go back home. le jana ‘to take (away’) — yh kursI le jaåo ≥ Take this chair (away). le åana ‘to bring’ — åpna rei\yo le åa^´ ≥ Bring your radio.

13.1 jb...tb ‘WHEN...THEN’ (RELATIVE CLAUSES 1). ‘Relative’ constructions have two paired clauses. This first type is ‘when...then’ clauses: jb ga¿\I

13.2 INFINITIVE + caih´, ‘SHOULD, OUGHT’ Expressions for ‘should, ought’ use infinite verb + caih´; the person under compulsion takes ko. So ‘I should go’ is muJko jana caih´ ≥ If the verb takes an object (as in ‘I should speak Hindi’, where ‘Hindi’ is the object of ‘speak’), the verb agrees with the object.

16 HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR

muJe ih~dI bolnI caih´ ≥ I should speak Hindi. (bolnI fem.) muJe ih~dI bolnI caih´ TI ≥ I should have spoken Hindi. (bolnI and TI both fem.)

But when the object takes ko, the verb is masculine singular: muJe ye kp¿\e Done p¿\e ≥ but muJe ^n kp¿\o# ko Dona p¿\a ≥ I had to wash these clothes. Remember that caih´ and cahna differ in both construction and meaning: muJe jana caih´ leikn mE# jana nhI# cahta ≥ I should go but I don’t want to go.

13.3 INFINITIVE + hona / pÂ\na ‘I AM TO, MUST’ The construction here is similar to that of caih´ (13.2), but the meaning is ‘I have to’ rather than ‘I should’. hona gives a fairly neutral sense of compulsion; pÂ\na suggests a stronger compulsion, exerted by forces beyond one’s control.

muJe ih~dI bolnI hE ≥ I am to speak Hindi. muJe ih~dI bolnI p¿\tI hE ≥ I have to speak Hindi. [‘regularly’ — imperfective pÂ\tI ] muJe ih~dI bolnI p¿\I ≥ I had to speak Hindi. [an isolated occasion — perfective pÂ\a ] muJe ih~dI bolnI p¿\egI ≥ I shall have to speak Hindi. [future pÂ\ega ]

13.4 jo...vh – ‘THE ONE WHO...’ (RELATIVE CLAUSES 2) Expressions like ‘the man who’, ‘the shop which’ use the relative pronoun jo; this commonly pairs up with a second clause whose subject is vh or ve. In the oblique, jo becomes ijs (singular), ijn (plural).

jo log bahr K¿\e hE#, ve åMdr åa skte hE# ≥ The people who are standing outside can come in. ijn logo# ko kam hE, ve ja skte hE# ≥ The people who have work can go. jo log kl åa´ Te, ¨~he# pEsa caih´ ≥ The people who came yesterday need money.

13.5 imlna ‘TO BE AVAILABLE’ (‘TO GET’) The sense ‘to be available’ is conveyed by the verb imlna. It also gives the sense ‘to get’ — with ‘the thing received’ as subject of the verb.

ram ko tuµharI icÛI imlI ≥ Ram received your letter. [icÛI subject ] yhaÅ å¿Kbar imlte hE# ≥ Newspapers are available here. [å¿Kbar subject] hme# ´k sßta kmra imla ≥ We got a cheap room. [kmra subject] yhaÅ tumko k&C nhI# imlega ≥ You won’t get anything here. [k&C nhI# subject]

17 HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR

13.6 lgna ‘HOW DOES IT STRIKE YOU?’ (‘DO YOU LIKE?’) The verb lgna ‘to strike, to adhere’ often conveys sensations, experiences etc.; the experiencer takes ko. ‘to strike, effect’ hmko BUK (πyas, QM\) lgI ≥ We felt hungry (thirsty, cold). ‘to appeal’ id¬lI åapko kEsI lgtI hE ? How do you like Delhi? ‘to take time’ yhaÅ åane me# ram ko do GMqe lge ≥ It took Ram two hours to get here. ‘to appear, seem’ vh ToÂ\a nara¿j lgta hE ≥ He appears a bit angry. ‘to appear, seem’ (muJe) lgta hE ik ... It seems (to me) that...

14.1 THE PASSIVE — bola jana ‘TO BE SPOKEN’ The passive (‘to be spoken, to be done’ as opposed to the active ‘to speak, to do’) consists of the perfective participle + jana, e.g. bola jana ‘to be spoken’, ikya jana ‘to be done’. ¿Kt ilKa gya ≥ The letter was written. yh Gr ipCle sal bnaya gya Ta ≥ This house was built last year. dono# ¿kmI¿je# DoÈ ja´ÅgI ≥ Both shirts will be washed. Adding ko after the subject makes the verb revert to masc. singular. dono# ¿kmI¿jo# ko Doya ja´ga ≥ Both shirts will be washed.

14.2 TRANSITIVITY AND THE PASSIVE

If you take a transitive verb (e.g. bnana ‘to make’) and make it passive (bnaya jana ‘to be made), you have the equivalent of an intransitive active verb (bnna). There may however be a slight difference in the inference of the two.

14.3 panI p¿\ne lga ‘IT BEGAN RAINING’ — TO BEGIN TO A sense of something ‘beginning’ spontaneously is expressed with the oblique infinitive (e.g. pÂ\ne rather than the direct pÂ\na) + lgna. panI p¿\ne lga ≥ It began to rain. vh hÅsne lgI ≥ She started laughing. hm socne lge ≥ We began to think. vh gana gane lga ≥ He began singing a song.

18 HINDI SKELETON GRAMMAR

14.4 muJe jane do ÷ ‘LET ME GO!’ — ‘TO ALLOW’ The sense ‘to allow to, to let’ is expressed with the oblique infinitive (e.g. jane rather than the direct jana) + dena. The ‘person allowed’ takes ko.

¨sko jane do ≥ Let him go. hmne ¨se jane idya ≥ We let him go. bçce ko Kelne do ≥ Let the child play. ve muJko bolne nhI# de#ge ≥ They won’t let me speak.

14.5 ijtna...¨tna ‘AS MUCH AS’ (RELATIVE CLAUSES 3)

ijtna Kana tum cahte ho, ¨tna Kaåo ≥ Eat as much food as you want. iK¿\kI ijtnI b¿\I honI caih´, ¨tnI b¿\I nhI# hE ≥ The window is not as big as it should be.

14.6 jEsa...vEsa ‘AS...SO’ (RELATIVE CLAUSES 4)

jEsa Kana yhaÅ imlta hE vEsa khaÅ imlega ? Where can you get food like you can get here? jEsI icÛI tumne ilKI hE vEsI hI mE# BI ilKUÅga ≥ I’ll write a letter just like the one you wrote..

14.7 jhaÅ...vhaÅ ‘WHERE...THERE’ (RELATIVE CLAUSES 4) Following the two-clause construction jo...vh etc., relative expressions of place use the adverbs jhaÅ...vhaÅ.